The invention relates to a belt wearable pencil sharpener. More particularly, the invention relates to an electric portable pencil sharpener which is configured to be worn on the belt of a user.
A variety of occupations, vocations, and hobbies require frequent use of a pencil when performing various tasks. For this reason, many tool belts have pencil holders. For many of these tasks, the pencil is used on a surface which is far from ideal. In particular, lumber, sheetrock, and even stone sometimes require a pencil mark. Further, since the pencil is often used immediately after using power and hand tools which require considerable strength, the user is typically less than gentle when using the pencil. Accordingly, frequently the pencil must be sharpened either because it has become dull, or because the tip has broken altogether.
Several combination tools have been devised which demonstrate the need for pencils in the workplace. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,741 to Hillinger discloses a tape measure with a belt clip which has a pencil holder. U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,789 to Douglas discloses a square tool with a tape measure that has a built in manual pencil sharpener. U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,441 to Leurck discloses a combination tool for use in hanging wallpaper which includes a manual pencil sharpener.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,903 to Kreim discloses a carpenter""s pencil sharpener that is meant for tabletop use and requires a connection to a line power source. Kreim ignores the fact that at many work sites, a line power source is not readily available.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,514 to New discloses a compact handheld battery operated pencil sharpener. New does not disclose any convenient way for carrying the sharpener or holding it upon one""s person.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.
It is an object of the invention to produce a pencil sharpener which is portable, and may be easily carried by a user upon his/her belt. Accordingly, the pencil sharpener is self-contained within a housing, and has a rear mounted belt clip for allowing attachment to a tool belt or ordinary dress belt.
It is another object of the invention to provide a pencil sharpener which automatically sharpens a pencil with only minimal labor by the user. Accordingly, the pencil sharpener is activated by an insertion switch, and the pencil is sharpened by a motorized sharpening assembly.
It is a still further object of the invention that the pencil sharpener may be used repeatedly and conveniently recharged when necessary. Accordingly, the pencil sharpener has an internal battery pack to allow fully portable use, and has an incorporated battery charger for allowing the battery pack to be recharged by connection to a line source without requiring an additional xe2x80x9crechargerxe2x80x9d component.
The invention is a portable pencil sharpener, for use upon a belt, in sharpening pencils, having a housing having a top having a top opening, a rear, and defining an internal cavity. A belt clip is located on the rear to facilitate attachment to the belt. A motorized sharpener assembly is located within the housing for automatically sharpening a pencil when inserted through the top opening. A power pack is located within the housing and has batteries for powering the motorized sharpener assembly. A charging plug and charging circuit allow the batteries to be recharged for subsequent use.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects the invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the claims.